animation | Fifth about The Seventh

How to Train Your Dragon 2

June 25, 2014 by Felipe Rosa

How to Train Your Dragon 2: visually striking animation, with a beautifully realized world and varied, well-designed characters (both humans and dragons) and dynamic set pieces and action scenes. However, the main strength of Dean DeBlois’ film is its story; it focuses on a heartfelt, touching narrative in lieu of low-brow, easy humor. It helps that the voice acting is low-key, with character-building being its main priority. Read also: How to Train Your Dragon

Categories: Film reviews • Tags: animation, fantasy

Rio 2

April 10, 2014 by Felipe Rosa

Rio 2: the weakest link in Carlos Saldanha’s film is the story, which is excessively busy; the messages that are supposed to be conveyed, however relevant they are, end up being poorly displayed. The voice cast is very diverse, but Jesse Eisenberg and Anne Hathaway (not trying to do too much and being perfect fits for their characters) are the highlights. That is not to say, however, that the film is not a pleasant journey; the animation is beautiful and colorful (Busby Berkeley being […]

Categories: Film reviews • Tags: adventure, animation

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The Incredibles

March 17, 2014 by Felipe Rosa

The Incredibles: an immensely fun film. It all starts with the great story by director Brad Bird, which has recognizable elements but is also very fresh; it’s also rather layered. The sense of humor is low-key; it’s present in the dialogue, character design and in the frame, and much of it comes from references about culture in general, superheroes, Pixar itself. It’s extremely well-done, drawn in a clean, retro style that fits the story being told; the character design is […]

Categories: Film reviews • Tags: adventure, animation, pixar, super hero, top

Frozen (2013)

December 17, 2013 by Felipe Rosa

Frozen: while too hard-on-the nose thematically, this film is nevertheless a good example of the Disney machine operating at a high level; the result is a solid piece of entertainment. Beautifully animated, visually stunning, it tells a delightful story with a fun set of characters (which are distinctly designed) and harmless sense of humor. Voice acting is solid, and the songs, performed with gusto. (Particular note for “Let It Go”, a crucial song for the story.) The short that preceded […]

Categories: Film reviews • Tags: animation, comedy, fantasy

The Wind Rises

November 17, 2013 by Felipe Rosa

The Wind Rises: Hayao Miyazaki imbues magic in this tale, even as it is, for the most part, a very realistic, but always rich story that is at the same time like and unlike what is seen in an animated feature nowadays. This certainly could have been an non-animated film at all, but thankfully it is: the animation and the character design are gorgeous and detailed, the colors are great to look at. Miyazaki has been one of the premier storytellers […]

Categories: Film reviews • Tags: animation, biopic / historic, drama

Monsters University

June 22, 2013 by Felipe Rosa

Monsters University: it’s part of the game that a sequel (or a prequel, as the case may be) will be judged not only on its own terms, but also compared to the original work. The best ones will expand the story and the universe, organically, while still maintaining a sense of identity. By such measure, this film doesn’t work all that well, as the characters are not quite formed or aligned with their future selves; to its credit, it plays […]

Categories: Film reviews • Tags: animation, fantasy

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Grave of the Fireflies (1988)

June 21, 2013 by Felipe Rosa

Grave of the Fireflies: it is possible to have magic in an animation film without talking animals or fantastic environments; a great story in a realistic setting will have the same effect. In this particular case, the story is as touching as in very few cases before or since, and that includes live-action films; it is both very particular to its time and place, and universal. While it’s very different in tone to the majority of Studio Ghibli’s films, it […]

Categories: Film reviews • Tags: animation, drama, top

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Epic (2013)

June 18, 2013 by Felipe Rosa

Epic: a solid, if unspectacular animated film. The story is above average (it seems to be a bit inspired by Studio Ghibli’s works) and avoiding cheap jokes as well as pop culture references was a good choice. Character and world design are well done, in particular the way one integrated with the other; the exception is that some of the textures are a bit off. Voice acting is, for the most part, good; Christoph Waltz is expectedly the high point.

Categories: Film reviews • Tags: adventure, animation

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Despicable Me

June 8, 2013 by Felipe Rosa

Despicable Me: uninspired and bland animated film. The problem starts (but not ends) with the underdeveloped story and the unmemorable characters. The brand of humour is as low-brow as it could be while still being kid-friendly. Finally, visually it’s as flat and uninteresting as everything else. The one saving grace, to a point, is the group of minions, but that’s a one-trick pony that can only go so far.

Categories: Film reviews • Tags: animation, comedy

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